A Low Profile (LP) fuse is a kind of small fuse designed to reduce manufacturing costs and, more particularly, the LP fuse has a smaller height than other kinds of fuses. Referring to FIG. 6, a known LP fuse 200 is shown, having a body 220, a protrusion 230 protruding from the center of a lower surface of the body 220 so as to be inserted into a fuse box, and terminals 210 disposed at opposite ends of the protrusion 230, with the terminals 210 being made of a conductive metal.
The fuse box is provided with connectors. The connectors are electrically connected to the terminals, respectively, and provide the LP fuse with a fixing force to prevent separation of the LP fuse when inserted into the fuse box.
The connectors used in the fuse box should be designed to be assure easy insertion of the LP fuse because a plurality of LP fuses may be inserted into the fuse box and may be exchanged several times during a vehicle's lifespan. In addition, the connectors should provide the LP fuse with a fixing force sufficient to prevent separation of the LP fuse inserted into the fuse box even if external shock, such as vibration of a vehicle, etc., is applied. The connectors also should have a sufficient cross sectional area in consideration of the quantity of current passing through the LP fuse.
FIG. 7 shows a known connector that may be positioned in a fuse box according to the related art.
The known connector includes a body 310 configured to be fixed to the bottom of a recess defined in a fuse box and having a fixture formed at a lower end thereof for the connection of an electric wire, and a pair of elastic pieces 320 extending from an upper end of the body 310 to protrude from the recess of the fuse box, in order to receive and secure the terminals of an LP fuse.
The elastic pieces 320 are obliquely bent such that a distance between both the elastic pieces 320 is upwardly reduced. Upper ends of the elastic pieces 320 bend outward and extend away from each other, such that a corresponding LP fuse terminal can be easily inserted downward toward the a top of the elastic pieces 320.
Accordingly, the pair of elastic pieces 320 elastically bend outward in order to receive a LP fuse terminal and to press and secure the LP fuse terminal through a restoring force thereof.
The elastic pieces 320 of the connector according to the related art, however, extend upward from the body 310 and do not exhibit a strong fixing force, thus causing an LP fuse to be easily separated from the fuse box due to vibration generated during driving of a vehicle. Specifically, despite the fact that the securing of the LP fuse depends on only a press force of the elastic pieces 320 used to secure a terminal of the LP fuse, the elastic pieces 320 take the form of cantilevers extending upward from the body 310 and, thus are greatly affected by vibration, showing deterioration in a fixing force.
To solve the above described disadvantage of the connector according to the related art, attempts have been made to maximize a restoration force of the elastic pieces 320 when the elastic pieces 320 are pushed away from each other upon insertion of the terminal. To this end, the elastic pieces 320 have been configured to be closer to each other in an upward direction, such that the upper ends of the elastic pieces 320 come into contact with each other.
However, the above described configuration does not provide a basic solution to the continuous vibration generated in the course of a vehicle's lifespan and, also, includes difficulty in assembly of an LP fuse because the elastic pieces 320, the upper ends of which come into contact with each other, cause an increased insertion force required to press and insert the LP fuse in order to push the elastic pieces 320 away from each other.
In particular, in the case where a plurality of LP fuses are simultaneously assembled into a fuse box during an assembly of a vehicle, a significant insertion force is required on a per LP fuse basis, causing difficulty in assembly of all the LP fuses.